Etymologically
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potere

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Pronunciation

  • /poˈte.re/, [poˈd̞e(ɾe)][1]

Forms

potere (first-person singular present pòsso, first-person singular past historic potéi or (less common) potétti or (ditto, traditional) potètti, past participle potùto, first-person singular future potrò, no imperative, auxiliary avére or (as an auxiliary, with main verbs taking essere) èssere)[1] Old forms include the infinitive possere (16th century) and, for the noun, podere, podire, potire and puotere.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *potēre, the Vulgar Latin infinitive that replaced classical Latin posse (“to be able”).[4][5][6][1] The new infinitive was formed on the forms of the verb that begin with ⟨pot-⟩, such as ⟨potes⟩ “you can”, ⟨potuī⟩ “I could” and the participle ⟨potēns⟩, genitive ⟨potentis⟩ “powerful”.[4][2][7] Nocentini sees in these forms a verbal stem ⟨*potē-⟩ beside the forms of ⟨potis esse⟩, and Devoto leaves open whether ⟨*potēre⟩ continues a prehistoric verb that survived in the participle.[5][8] Proto-Romance ⟨*/ˈpɔt-e-/⟩ is reconstructed from cognates in every Romance language without exception.[9]

The Romance outcomes include Old French pooir (modern French pouvoir), Occitan poder, Catalan poder, Spanish poder, Portuguese poder, Sardinian podere, Friulian pode, Romanian putea and, at Veglia, Dalmatian potar.[5][10]

Latin ⟨posse⟩ is a contraction of ⟨potis esse⟩ “to be able, to be master”, from potis (“able; master”) and esse (“to be”).[4][5][11] The adjective corresponds to Sanskrit पति (páti, “lord, master, husband”), Ancient Greek πόσις (pósis, “husband”) and Lithuanian pàts (“himself”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the verb before 1237;[6][4][5] DELI's first record is in Guido Faba, before 1243, in the sense “to have the possibility, the faculty, the right or the permission”.[6][4][5] The noun follows before 1294 according to GRADIT;[6][4] DELI cites Dante's podere “real capacity, strength”, before 1321.[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The Sicilian poets already used the noun for a lover's strength: così m'à tolto Amore ogne podere (“so has Love taken all my power from me”).[3] The political sense “supreme authority in a community or state, command” appears before 1367 in Fazio degli Uberti, and “control, possession” (in potere di, in someone's hands) in Torquato Tasso, before 1595.[4] The verb itself gained the sense “to have strength, effect or authority” by 1516, in Ariosto.[4]

Modern Italian has many fixed terms for the noun in law and politics, such as potere legislativo, divisione dei poteri and abuso di potere, and in science, such as potere calorifico.[6][12] The 19th century formed strapotere (1848) and prepotere (1849) “excessive power”.[5] The learned words potente and potenza come directly from Latin potēns and Latin potentia, not from the Italian verb.[4][13]

Meyer-Lübke traced Italian podere “farm, estate” to the noun as well, and notes that a third-person phrase “it may be” became the word for “perhaps” in several languages, as in French peut-être.[10]

Timeline

  • Before 1237 – First record of the verb according to GRADIT.[6]
  • Before 1243 – Guido Faba uses potere “to be able, to be allowed”.[4]
  • Before 1294 – The noun is first recorded.[6]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses the noun podere “capacity, strength”.[4]
  • Before 1367 – Fazio degli Uberti uses the noun for “supreme authority, command”.[4][2]
  • 1516 – Ariosto uses the verb for “to have strength, influence”.[4]
  • 16th century – The infinitive possere is recorded.[2]
  • Before 1595 – Tasso uses the noun for “control, possession”.[4]
  • 1848 – Strapotere is first recorded.[5]
  • 1849 – Prepotere is first recorded.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be able to, to have the means, strength or capacity to do something; can.[6][12][7][1]
  2. To be allowed or authorized to; may, also in polite requests: posso? “may I (come in)?”.[6][7]
  3. To be possible or likely: può darsi, “maybe”; might.[6][7][1]
  4. Used with an object such as molto or tutto: to have power or influence: quel ministro può tutto.[12][7]

Noun

  1. Ability, capacity or real possibility of doing something.[6][12][7]
  2. Influence over the behaviour of others; authority, ascendancy; control, dominion: essere in potere di qualcuno.[6][12][7]
  3. Supreme authority in a group, community or state; those who exercise it: prendere il potere.[6][7]
  4. (law) Each of the functions of the state or of an office: potere legislativo, esecutivo, giudiziario.[6][12]
  5. Extraordinary or supernatural ability.[12][14]
  6. (science) The capacity of a body or substance to produce an effect: potere calorifico.[6]

Word family

  • strapotere
  • prepotere
  • contropotere
  • potimento
  • ripotere

Usage notes

Fixed expressions include a più non posso “with all one's might”, non poterne più “to be at the end of one's tether” and non poter vedere qualcuno “to be unable to stand someone”.[6][12] As a modal verb potere usually takes the auxiliary of the infinitive that follows it (sono potuto partire, ho potuto dormire).[7][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3043
  3. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 1116
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 340
  9. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  13. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
  14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana